One example of an interactive service is the Sky Active™ service provided by the applicants. Aspects of an interactive application platform are described in the applicant's patent publication WO 97/23997A1. Interactive services may also be provided online over the Internet, for example via the applicant's Sky Anytime™ services, either on mobile or PC.
Recently, online gaming has become very popular, in particular online gambling; in order to promote online gaming, various broadcast programmes have been devised in which online gaming winners qualify to participate in a live broadcast of a gaming session. However, such live broadcasts cease to be interactive for those who have not qualified to participate. On the other hand, the number of participants in a broadcast gaming session is effectively limited to one or a few games at any one time.